My Chocomallows Cake by ARIE78 (on hold)

Chapter 5

The bad thing about Bangkok? Getting caught at the never ending line of red lights or jammed. It was already dark by the time Forth reached the school. The utter quiet in the neighborhood deepened his sense of dread. Why was the entire place deserted? He'd expected to see at least a couple of kids loitering around the place.

Forth pulled his Audi at the entrance gate, swung the door open and stepped out, the keys clutched tightly in his hand. It wasn't hard to find him.

Beam was squatting before the gates, knees hunched together and head clasped in his hands. At the sound of Forth's approaching footsteps, he looked up and turned a narrow eye on him.

Forth stopped, surprised by the intensity of his glare and swallowed the tight knot in his throat.

"So..." Forth started placating. "I guess I was supposed to pick you up..."

"You guess?" Beam repeated, trying to stay calm.

"Oi. You should have told me when I left. It's not like I can read minds. And I've never heard of a nineteen year old needing a ride home."

Beam stood up gruffly and picked up his backpack.

"Give me a break! I'm NEW to this stupid city!"

"Don't you dare badmouth my 'home', you brat."

Beam opened his mouth to say something but stopped.

"Brat?" he repeated.

At Forth's nonchalant shrug of the shoulders, Beam shook his head in disbelief and brushed past him towards the car. With a violent jerk, he opened the passenger side door and jumped in.

Forth got behind the steering wheel again and started the car.

"Put your seatbelts on. God, do I have to tell you to do everything?"

Beam growled but made no attempt to do so.

Forth took a deep breath. No. Killing your boss's son would not be good in the long run. No matter how much the kid annoyed him and deserved to be deserted out in the streets. No, he could do this.

With a curse, he reached over... caught the seatbelt and tucked Beam into it forcibly- the boy looking thoroughly revolted.

"There! Much better!" Forth spat and returned to

He hated this rough treatment which is why he hated Jaturapom.

Back on the farm, the few workers and his occassional home tutors had always treated him with respect and kept their polite distance, only stepping up when he needed them.

This guy was just too weird. He would step up but never to help but to confuse and hinder and insult and he didn't think it was possible but hurt too.

As they slugged on through the traffic, once almost running over an old man through a clear patch. Forth applied the brakes suddenly that sent the car jerking violently to the side as he had been in the act of turning a corner.

Beam had almost fallen onto Forth but the seatbelt had prevented him from going far. Now he was glad for it and caressed the rough material strapped across his chest lovingly.

However he didn't ignore the whiff of that same comforting smell from Forth this time. He was surprised it had escaped his nose earlier.

Forth seemed to wear this scent every time he came back from work. So it had something to do his work, as in his father's restaurant. He had never stepped into that place. He had no idea what it sold. He assumed it was Italian food. But now he so wasn't sure.

"So, you made any... new friends?" Forth asked, determined to keep his eyes on the road. The almost-accident that occurred at the last intersection was undoubtedly old man's fault. No matter what Beam says.

Forth knew he was groping for a subject to start the conversation with. And apparently, 'friends' was the wrong one.

Beam was watching the passing sights, eerily quiet for a long moment. "So beautiful..." he murmured with a soft smile as they passed the King Rama IX park.

Forth twitched. "Hey now... Don't try changing the subject."

Beam let out his pent-up breath.

"I'm not trying to-"

"You were," Forth cut in.

Beam sat up and gawked at him.

"Why do you even want to know?" he retorted. "It doesn't matter to anyone what I do. I'm a burden after all. I'm sure you're just worried about your job. And don't worry, Mr Jaturapom... I won't tell my father about what a craptastic caretaker you are."

And after that sudden outburst, there was a long silence. Beam was seething at the poor window and Forth was shooting daggers at the road ahead, wondering why starting an innocent conversation with the boy was turning out to be so damn hard.

They reached the apartment by dinner. Beam had stumbled into his home- exhausted and collapsed on to the couch. He lay there, staring at the ceiling and playing with a small Rubik cube in his hand.

Forth watched him from the corner of his eyes as he prepared dinner. Pasta Carbonara. He wasn't sure whether the boy would like it but he hoped it'd serve as a truce between them.

Forth placed the dish on the glass table in the living room, hoping the aroma would wake him up. And it did. Beam stirred from his sleep and turned a glazed eye on the pasta. 

Forth put a fork in and nudged it towards him.

"Eat it," Forth said and delved into his own meal.

It wasn't until moments later when Forth realized that he was the only one eating. He slurped down a noodle and turned to the boy.

Beam was still staring at the dish fixedly, almost like caught in a trance.

"Oi."

"..."

"Hey you."

"..."

"You know... If you hate it that much, you can go to the robbers next door. I bet they'd have some leftovers from-"

That seemed to have thrown the teenager out of his reverie. Beam bowed absentmindedly and picked up the bowl.

Forth had never seen anyone gobble his pasta down the way the boy had done that night.

Well, at least there was something they had in common, he realized with a smile.

ARIE78: Will try to update asap ok. Quite bz this month 😓